


ambient light

by Lirazel



Category: Infinite (Band), K-POP RPF, K-pop, Korean Pop, Kpop-Fandom, VIXX
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-07
Updated: 2014-02-07
Packaged: 2018-01-11 11:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1172389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirazel/pseuds/Lirazel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"I like looking through your eyes.”</i>  Two boys and their cameras.</p>
            </blockquote>





	ambient light

_i._

 

It’s backstage at some music show, the bedlam of sweat-shimmering brightly-clad idols and brisk coordi noonas and harried staff, and Sungyeol’s gone off to try to catch Jihyun-noona before she goes onstage, so Myungsoo is standing in a corner by himself. He could be playing with Dongwoo-hyung or trying to find Minhwan, but he’s just so _tired_ and he has drama filming at five tomorrow morning, and it’s just sort of nice to stand completely still for once, letting everything move around him instead of being pulled along with it. It’s easy to zone out, to disconnect from the surrounding chaos, to not think of anything at all, but especially not the next six things on his schedule. 

 

He’s drifting so far away from the moment that when the tentative voice says, “Sunbae?” he almost doesn’t hear it. But it snags on the edge of his consciousness and jerks him back to the present, and as he blinks himself back, he sees the hesitance in the line of the guy’s shoulders before he even notes his identity.

 

Woohyun is friends with Hakyeon, so Myungsoo knows all the VIXX members at least a little, but he can’t quite remember this one’s name. The one with the ‘artwork’ joke and dimples, the same visual second-to-youngest position as Myungsoo. 

 

Myungsoo finally remembers he should at least say hi, but before he can, the guy holds out two familiar-looking books and asks, “Will you sign my photobooks?”

 

Myungsoo has signed roughly a million of _L’s Bravo Viewtiful_ parts one and two, mostly for fans who stood in line for hours at fansignings or who catch him outside a schedule, but also for his mom’s friends and for people he knew back when he wasn’t famous. The other members and his best idol friends asked him to sign theirs as well, but that was either to tease him or as a way of congratulating him, just something friends do. One or two of the younger female idols had requested the same, either giggling or wide-eyed, but he hasn’t had a guy idol he barely knows approach him before. If the guy—Hongbin, that’s his name—didn’t look nervous, Myungsoo would assume it was either for a laugh or some kind of sucking up, but Hongbin’s eyes look so sincere that there’s no other explanation than that he really just wants his copies signed.

 

Myungsoo takes them carefully and then stares blankly at them when he realizes he doesn’t have a pen tucked into his stage clothes anywhere. Hongbin starts, flushes, and produces one, handing it over politely. Myungsoo is used to people blushing around him, girls especially, but that’s usually because of _him_ , because he’s famous, because they think he’s handsome. Somehow he gets the feeling that for Hongbin, the blushing is less about who he’s with and more about how he feels about himself. Myungsoo understands that; Sungyeol is his best friend, after all, even if he’s not much of a blusher. 

 

He smooths open the title page of _Part 1_ , noting that the binding doesn’t have stiffness it has when first cracked open, that the pages look like they’ve been turned many times, but carefully. He thinks his head is spinning a little, and his signature turns out lopsided. He’s more careful on the second book, taking his time. It occurs to him that he hasn’t said anything yet, that he may be coming across as rude or unapproachable. Almost everyone in the industry has pretty much figured out that Infinite’s L isn’t the chic cold city man that people sometimes think he is, but he still comes across that way to people he hasn’t interacted with much. The last thing he wants is a reputation as someone who’s full of himself.

 

“Did you—” He clears his throat. “Like them?” It’s weird having another idol be his fan. Oh, other idols will say, ‘I’m your fan!’ when he meets them, but the sunbaes are just saying it to be polite and the nugu members are still in that place where they don’t actually feel like idols yet. Hongbin is a hoobae, but he debuted long enough ago that he doesn’t need to feel like a rookie around someone like Myungsoo. 

 

“They’re really great, sunbae,” Hongbin says, and he sounds sincere, but not overly enthusiastic like some people might. “You have a really good eye.”

 

A little frisson of pleasure snakes up Myungsoo’s spine, the kind he feels whenever someone compliments his pictures and he can tell they mean it. He’s pleased when one of the hyungs tells him he did well in a performance or one of the vocal coaches tells him he’s improved or when the PD tells him he did a good job in his scene, but it’s different when it’s his photography being praised. His pictures feel like a part of him in ways that nothing else does. It’s like they’re complimenting the heart of him.

 

He puts the cap back on the pen and smooths the covers of the books down, handing them back to Hongbin. “You like photography?”

 

Myungsoo didn’t used to like to meet the gaze of people he doesn’t know, would avoid eye contact whenever he could get away with it, but they taught him to do it in his trainee days, and now he’s glad he gets to see the light that flickers on in Hongbin’s eyes as he nods. “I’m just an amateur, though.”

 

Myungsoo lets out an inelegant snorting laugh. “So am I. I just have a famous name and the company could make money off of me. I wouldn’t get to do a photobook otherwise.” That’s a little cynical for Myungsoo; it wasn’t _all_ the company wanting to make money. CEO-nim and the others were really happy to support him in his photography, and the people he worked with to make the book were very professional and didn’t act like they were just humoring a famous kid with a hobby. But at the same time, he’s very aware that it’s only because he’s L that he’d been able to put something like the photobooks out there. He really is still an amateur in all the ways that count.

 

He doesn’t need to explain all that; Hongbin is an idol, too. “It’s still really cool, though. That your company thought you were good enough to do it.”

 

That’s very true, but Myungsoo isn’t sure how to respond to it, so he changes the subject. “What kind of camera do you have?”

 

“A Canon EOS 5D.”

 

Myungsoo’s eyes go wide and he grins. “Hey, me, too! It’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

 

Hongbin nods earnestly. “It’s really great. When I got it, the other members all thought it was broken because it doesn’t have a flash.”

 

“My members did, too, but I don’t need a flash anyway. It’s kind of heavy,” Myungsoo says, his hands missing the weight of his camera, just like they always do when he’s talking about it but not holding it. “But I like that.”

 

“Yeah, it makes it feel less—casual. Like you have to take it more seriously and take your time to get it right.”

 

Myungsoo stares at him; he had tried to explain just that once to Sungyeol, who had patted him on the head and said, ‘Whatever you say, camera boy.’ He’d thought it was one of his own quirks, something no one else would really understand. “Yeah, just like that.”

 

“Yah! Kim Myungsoo! Get your ass over here before I stick my shoe up it!”

 

Myungsoo starts, dropping Hongbin’s gaze at the sound of Sunggyu’s voice cutting through the noise. He glances over at the gathering knot of Infinite members and waves a hand indicating that he’ll be right there. Then he turns back to Hongbin and rolls his eyes, a ‘leaders, huh?’ expression, and Hongbin grins back, his dimple popping up; he looks a lot younger like that. 

 

“I’ve gotta go,” Myungsoo says, then adds, “It was nice to talk to you,” and finds that the words are true.

 

Hongbin ducks into a bow. “Thank you, sunbae,” he says, and when Myungsoo is walking back to the other members and glances over his shoulder, he sees that Hongbin has opened up one of the books and is looking at what has to be Myungsoo’s signature. That same flash of pleasure shoots through Myungsoo, and then he’s back to the members and it’s time to perform. 

 

 

_ii._

 

He’s sitting in the back seat of the van talking to Sooyoung on kakao talk the next week— _at least this concept doesn’t involve stripper poles. do you have any idea how many bruises i had all over my body for ‘first love’? and that was_ before _i hurt my ankle_ —when a message from an unfamiliar ID pops up.

 

_Sunbae? This is Hongbin._ A second later: _from VIXX_.

 

Myungsoo laughs out loud, making Dongwoo stir beside him. It’s cute, that Hongbin has to clarify; he must still feel like a rookie. He’s thinking of what to write back when he gets another message. _Hakyeon-hyung got your ID from Woohyun-sunbae. Is that okay?_

 

That, at least, is easy enough to answer. _Yeah, it’s okay._ Idols who want to strike up friendships—or possible relationships—with other idols they meet in the three free minutes they find backstage before shows kind of _have_ to go through friends who know friends in order to get each other’s IDs. _What’s up?_

 

_I know that you’re very busy and you might not have time_ , Hongbin types, then adds, _but I wanted to ask you a favor_.

 

Favors are a big thing in the industry, and normally it would probably be pretty rude for Hongbin to ask for one already, but Myungsoo doesn’t really mind, maybe because he’s not like Sungjong or Key-sunbae or Heechul-sunbae who are forever getting asked for favors since they know everyone. There isn’t a lot other idols can ask him for. He’s intrigued.

 

_What is it?_

 

_Sometime, if you have some free time and nothing else to do, would you maybe look at some of my pictures? I could send them to you and you could just send them back whenever, there’s no hurry. And you don’t have to give me detailed feedback or anything, just tell me if you think they suck or whatever. Anything you have time for. Or not, if you don’t._

 

Myungsoo lets out another little laugh, this one of disbelief; he’s not used to anyone asking him things like this, being overly careful not to seem like they’re crossing a line or expecting too much. Hongbin is really cute. _Yeah, sure_ , he writes back. _It would be cool to have somebody to talk to about this stuff. We could meet up sometime, if you want._

 

He can almost hear the delighted shock in Hongbin’s words, like he’s saying them instead of typing them. _Really? That would be great, sunbae!_ Then: _Whenever you’re free._

 

Myungsoo is smiling as he composes his next message. _I’ll let you know when I have some time. It might be after my drama wraps—it’s a time-sucker._

 

_Of course, sunbae, I understand. No rush._

 

_We’ll work something out_ , Myungsoo writes back. And then, _You can call me hyung._

 

His fingers send the message before his brain can even process it, and then he wonders if it was too soon for that. They don’t really know each other yet, and it’s not like they’ll be interacting a lot anytime soon. Hongbin’s reply takes a moment longer than the last ones have, like a pause, but soon enough it pops up: _Okay, Myungsoo-hyung. Talk to you later._

 

Myungsoo looks down at his name with the title tacked on the end and then shrugs. Even if it was too early, he doesn’t think Hongbin is one to mind about things like that. He picks up his conversation with Sooyoung where he left off.

 

 

_iii._

 

The other members and all the rest of Myungsoo’s good friends are always encouraging about his photography, asking to see what pictures he’s taken lately and praising them freely. Myungsoo appreciates that more than he can say, but it’s not quite the same as having someone he can really talk to about his passion. None of the others understand why he even needs different lenses—“I can’t believe you spent that much on a round piece of glass!” Sunggyu-hyung will say, which is pretty rich considering the labels he wears—or why he’s willing to brave cold and overzealous fans to sneak around the city and take pictures during his free time. Myungsoo finds himself looking forward to meeting up with Hongbin more than he’d have expected, excited at the idea of talking to someone who understands, and when they finally have a couple of overlapping free hours and arrange to meet up, he’s grinning to himself as he carefully packs his camera.

 

Hongbin has his head bent over his camera when Myungsoo sees him across the coffee shop, and for a dizzy moment, Myungsoo feels like he’s looking at himself. Which is ridiculous: Hongbin doesn’t even look like him, and their hair is different colors and everything, but still, he can’t help but think, _That must be what I look like when I’m looking at my camera_. 

 

Hongbin shoots to his feet when he looks up and sees Myungsoo approaching, hands tight but not too tight around his camera in a way Myungsoo recognizes. “Hello, sunb—hyung,” Hongbin says, bobbing a bow, and he sounds a little awkward but not uncomfortable with the title. Remembering their few interactions since VIXX debuted, Myungsoo thinks Hongbin sounds a little awkward a great deal of the time, but it’s not like Myungsoo doesn’t know what that’s like. 

 

Small talk is awkward, too, even if Myungsoo knows it’s necessary and usually engages in it as much as the situation demands—though, thankfully, with an ice prince image and six other members most of whom talk a lot more than he does in social situations, the situation doesn’t always demand that much of Myungsoo himself—but this is his day off (well, part of the day is off, anyway, and that counts), and yeah, Hongbin is an idol, but he’s off, too, wearing jeans and a normal shirt, and they aren’t going to talk about idol life, and they’re in a coffee shop just like any other guys their age might be, and sure, at some point somebody will probably snap a picture with their camera phone and it’ll end up on the internet, but they’re both guys, so it won’t result in a scandal. Myungsoo is going to relax. And relaxing means no small talk.

 

“Show me what you’ve got,” he says instead, and Hongbin immediately passes his camera over. Myungsoo gives him his bag as well, and they examine each other’s cameras in the way only people who are passionate about photography can, taking note of lenses and settings and exchanging a few questions and answers since Hongbin’s actually a newer mark than Myungsoo’s. When Myungsoo asks to see his pictures, Hongbin pulls out his laptop and they go through his favorite shots, their chairs pulled close together so they can both look. He’s pretty good, focusing mostly on people, especially faces, but he picks good subjects and makes good use of light and Myungsoo can see through tracing the chronology of the pictures that his composition is improving, too. It’s a relief; he won’t have to make up kind things to say that he doesn’t really mean just to be polite. He can be honest and encouraging and also point out a few things Hongbin needs to work on.

 

Myungsoo has never really been in a position to teach someone else anything, not anything that really mattered. Even when they were kids, Moonsoo always seemed to learn to tie his shoes or to ride a bike at the same time as Myungsoo, his big brother’s wisdom unnecessary. In school he’d have been willing to help his friends with math, but they all went to cram schools and didn’t really need him, and as a trainee he was always the one getting singing advice from Sunggyu or Woohyun and dancing pointers from Hoya or Dongwoo. He’d told Hoya and Woohyun a few things about filming for a drama, but Hoya wasn’t one to really need much guidance in much of anything and Woohyun was nice about it but closer to Sungyeol and so went to him when he had any questions. 

 

So this is new for Myungsoo: talking about something he’s good at, something he loves, and knowing that Hongbin is actually listening and actually cares. His eyes are steady on Myungsoo’s face as he talks, and Myungsoo can tell by his expression that he’s mentally filing away everything Myungsoo says. It feels really...good, to have someone so interested in what he’s saying, and he relaxes into it, talking to Hongbin like he’s known him his whole life and not stopping himself from saying the particularly nerdy things he knows other people don’t usually care about. Hongbin seems to care about those most of all.

 

It’s easy to pass a couple of hours in a warm corner of the cafe, sunlight streaming in through the window and resting soft on Hongbin’s hair. Their arms brush, and like always, Myungsoo likes the animal warmth of someone else being so close. They talk the whole time about photography, and Hongbin stops looking so tense and stops hesitating over his questions, and when he laughs, it’s when Myungsoo actually meant to be funny. 

 

When a glance at his phone tells him he really needs to be going if he doesn’t want to be late to his next schedule, it’s hard to make himself get up. Hongbin tucks his own camera away just as carefully as Myungsoo does his, and that makes Myungsoo like him a lot. “This helped me a lot, hyung, thank you,” he says, looking up at Myungsoo, and Myungsoo likes his earnestness, too. He can be a pretty earnest person himself.

 

“It was fun,” he says, because it was, and then adds, because the idea just popped vivid and appealing into his mind, “Let’s go take pictures together sometime.”

 

Hongbin’s face lights up and his dimple appears, and he agrees eagerly, and if they were closer friends, Myungsoo might hug him before they part, but they aren’t, so he just gives him a grin and a wave as they head in opposite directions. 

 

He feels less tired than he usually does once he’s in the van and headed to his next schedule, the same way he feels after he’s had some time to take a lot of pictures. He thinks it’ll be really nice, taking them sometime with Hongbin.

 

 

_iv._

 

Myungsoo pulls up one of VIXX’s variety show appearances on his laptop when he’s in bed that night. The screen, so much bigger than his phone, lets him see the strain on Hongbin’s face when the MC coaxes him into showing off his abs, lets him see the slight shaking of Hongbin’s hands when he gets a chance to sing. Hongbin is polite and respectful to the sunbaes and he keeps a smile on his face the whole time, dimples at the ready, but Myungsoo thinks that smile is a lot different than the one he’d seen across the table at the coffee shop. A lot less real, and definitely less bright.

 

 

_v._

 

“Aren’t we going to have a tail of fangirls following you around, hyung?” Hongbin asks, and Myungsoo notices the way he phrases it—like Hongbin couldn’t possibly have fangirls following _him_ around. Myungsoo knows Infinite has built up a lot more of a reputation and gained more notoriety over the years than VIXX has been able to, but that’s mostly because they debuted two years earlier, and he’s still pretty sure that there are girls who would trail after Hongbin and giggle over his dimples and his muscles.

 

“Maybe, but I’ve gotten pretty sneaky,” Myungsoo says. “I try not to look like me.”

 

Hongbin’s eyes narrow like he just realized something. “You aren’t wearing black.”

 

Myungsoo grins, looking down at his jeans and his red shirt and brown shoes. “I keep some stuff around just for when I don’t want them to notice me,” he says. “The fangirls, especially the ones with fansites, they memorize all your clothes. So if you wear it to the airport one month, they’ll notice you in it if you go to the store the next.”

 

Hongbin shakes his head with a little laugh. “I can’t even remember all the clothes I have myself.”

 

Myungsoo had managed to lose the fangirls from outside the dorm, so as he and Hongbin set out with their cameras from the store where they met, there isn’t anyone following them, and Myungsoo hopes his now-black hair and his mask will be enough to keep them from being noticed. Hongbin’s clothes are average enough, though even his no-makeup face is handsome enough that he’ll probably draw some eyes. Still, maybe they’ll get lucky. 

 

They end up at a street market where there are lots of colorful stands for Myungsoo to take pictures of and lots of interesting faces for Hongbin. Hongbin glances at him nervously the first few times he takes a picture, stance stiff, but after Myungsoo takes a few of his own, he relaxes, and then it’s easy as anything, wandering through the booths and snapping pictures and showing each other their shots on the viewscreen. They get lots of good pictures and Myungsoo takes one of Hongbin with an old-fashioned hat on his head, and it makes them both laugh, and they buy street food and burn their fingers and mouths eating it, and then take some more pictures, and when Hongbin express his frustration at the light in a few of his pictures, Myungsoo shows him some aperture tricks and when Hongbin has to leave, Myungsoo realizes the afternoon has been the most fun he’s had in a while—even if they did end up with a couple of not-as-sneaky-as-they-think-they-are fans following him towards the end.

 

_Do it again sometime?_ he messages Hongbin as he walks home.

 

The happy emoji reply pops up immediately.

 

 

_vi._

 

Myungsoo sometimes doesn’t feel like he’s really very good at being a hyung. Not that he doesn’t love his dongsaengs and treat them well—he does—but he’s not as good at being the one who takes care of them because most of them have never needed him to. He and Moonsoo have always gotten along and more often than not have been close, but it’s always felt more like they’re on the same level, and the times when Myungsoo’s position actually matters, it always results in Moonsoo scowling or rolling his eyes. Sungjong calls him hyung, but Sungjong’s never needed him to play that role, not only because he has six others to do it, but also because Sungjong doesn’t need anyone’s guidance: beside Sungjong’s competent maturity, Myungsoo often ends up feeling like _he’s_ the dongsaeng. Byunghun and Niel both call him hyung, but he doesn’t spend enough time with them for it to feel like a responsibility, and he didn’t really have any younger friends from his life before Woollim. 

 

But it’s different with Hongbin. Hongbin may actually look like the older one, but he says _hyung_ the way Niel says it to Sungyeol or Sungjong says it to Hoya or Dongwoo says it to Sunggyu. Myungsoo has never had a dongsaeng quite like this, and it’s fun to buy him his coffee or his ice cream because Hongbin never seems to expect it. He’s sometimes still a little stiff when they first see each other, but he always ends up relaxing just like Myungsoo, and things become easy between them. They start spending what free time they have together, mostly taking pictures though occasionally just grabbing something to eat. Myungsoo has other idol friends, but he’s never spent as much time with any of them as he is with Hongbin, preferring most of the time to stick with his members. But he likes that with Hongbin, they can talk about idol life if they need somebody to complain to but also ignore it completely and act like they’re regular people if that’s what they want to do, and Hongbin doesn’t already know everything that’s happening in his life because they aren’t in the same group.

 

And Hongbin doesn’t pay any attention to his staring, and he doesn’t expect him to dress fashionably or to act cool like an idol. The first time Myungsoo laughs so hard his abs hurt, Hongbin kind of stares at him, but not in disgust or irritation, just like he can’t believe how dorky Myungsoo is, just like the members still sometimes stare at him. It’s nice, not having to pretend to be cooler than he is. And Hongbin, for all he’s a handsome idol, too, isn’t very cool either. Maybe that’s why they’re so easy together.

 

 

_vii._

 

Myungsoo has never been to this park before; it’s quiet and pretty and he can already tell he’ll be able to take a ton of pictures.

 

“Only old people come here, mostly,” Hongbin says as they pass a group of elders doing tai-chi. “I like the walking trails because nobody can sneak up on you and you rarely pass anybody else. I feel really alone.”

 

That sounds pretty appealing to Myungsoo; the lack of a bedroom to shut himself up in sometimes feels like it’s going to suffocate him and he ends up sitting in the bathroom just to get a few moments completely alone. This is a much better option. Though right now he’d rather be with Hongbin than completely alone anyway.

 

There really aren’t many people here, and the few people they pass are indeed old, so they end up taking their masks off, and Myungsoo finds himself wanting to take a few pictures of Hongbin, so he does, getting a few snapped off before Hongbin notices and turns his head to the side and makes his face go blank.

 

“No—no, don’t do the artwork thing,” Myungsoo says, unaccountably displeased. 

 

Hongbin blinks, looking at him. “It’s what I do.”

 

“Yeah, but—” The artwork thing is occasionally funny, and Myungsoo has often wondered if it’s like his L-cosplay: giving Hongbin a few minutes to escape from everything that’s going on around him, to pull inside himself and regroup. But he hasn’t asked. “You look all...flat. You don’t look like you.”

 

Hongbin’s eyebrows furrow and Myungsoo rushes his camera up to his eye and takes another picture, laughing at Hongbin’s reaction. Soon enough Hongbin is laughing, too, and so Myungsoo takes some more. That’s better.

 

“Do you like having your picture taken?” Hongbin asks later when they’re standing by a little pond, taking pictures of the ducks.

 

Myungsoo gets a shot of a red duck foot flashing out of the water before he answers. “I don’t know. I don’t really care either way? Sometimes it’s fun to think about what I must look like to the photographer, through the lens, and guess how the shots will turn out.”

 

“To pretend like you’re on the other side. Like you’re the one taking the picture.”

 

Of course Hongbin gets it. “Yeah. I like to pose and try to anticipate what the photographer wants. That can be fun.”

 

“You always look really good in photoshoots. I guess that’s why they have you do so many.”

 

Myungsoo snorts. “That and they want to distract everyone when I have scandals.”

 

They haven’t talked about this before; Myungsoo hasn’t talked much about it with anyone, only a few discussions with Sungyeol and Sungjong and a lecture or two from Sunggyu. He pretty much changes the subject when anyone brings it up. But Hongbin’s face is so genuinely interested but somehow not pressing when he asks, “Was it worth it? The scandal?” that Myungsoo answers, knowing that if he said he didn’t want to talk about it, Hongbin would accept that.

 

“I guess.” He hadn’t really thought of it in those terms. “I mean, I really liked her.” She was funny and pretty and got obsessed with things like he did—she understood black and touching and kimchi jjigae because she had chocolate. And she never seemed overwhelmed by either his looks or his celebrity, and that had been a first. He’d liked spending time with her. “But we never got to see each other and trying to have a relationship only on your phone isn’t really all that fun. It just kind of trailed off, I guess.”

 

Hongbin is quiet for a minute, focusing his camera on the trees across the pond, and the only sounds are the wind and the water and the ducks. Myungsoo grew up in the city, so he’s used to the noise and the rush and the dirt, but sometimes quiet like this feels like such a relief.

 

“Your fans were real jerks about it,” Hongbin says finally. “I didn’t even know you then, but I got annoyed.”

 

Myungsoo tries not to think about that, the sting of people who’d sworn they’d always love him turning their backs on him. But he’s always tried to look at things from their point of view. “It was because I lied and then admitted it after they’d covered it up. I wanted to just announce it, but the company didn’t want to.”

 

“Still, your fans should have been happy for you.”

 

Myungsoo shrugs. “You know fans.”

 

“Yeah.” Another click as Hongbin takes another picture. “If it wouldn’t cause a scandal, would you try to be with her again?”

 

Myungsoo hasn’t considered that. He turns his camera over in his hands. “I don’t know. I feel...different now, you know? I’m not sure how it would work out.”

 

“I don’t know that I’d trust a girl enough. You know, that she wasn’t just with me because I was famous. I heard some female idols talking about that at the music show yesterday—that the guys they’d dated were just with them because they were famous. It’s hard to know.”

 

“I guess that’s why most idols date other idols, or at least other people in the industry who are used to being around famous people.”

 

Myungsoo hasn’t thought of Doyeon in a while. He knows the fans say she was a famewhore, but he knows that’s not true. She had laughed at him when he laughed, and not in a mocking way. Like she thought he was cute, like Dongwoo sometimes laughs at him. But yeah, Hongbin is right. It probably is hard for idols to trust, though Myungsoo’s never really had that problem. 

 

He tucks thoughts of Doyeon away, his mother’s quiet words, _Almost no one makes a life with their first love. But it’s still special. Be glad that neither of you hurt each other, and remember her fondly and wait for your next love to find you_ , echoing in his mind. He lifts his camera again and takes a picture of Hongbin’s silhouette against the light of the setting sun.

 

 

_viii._

 

“Kim Myungsoo! Do you want to get your phone taken away? Put it down and get your ass over here!”

Myungsoo grimaces at Sunggyu’s words, wiping sweat off of his face and scanning Hongbin’s message quickly. 

“Who’re you talking to all the time anyway?” Woohyun asks, “You’re getting worse than Sungjongie with always typing on that thing.” But Myungsoo ignores him, just sending off a quick, _Gotta go, Hongbinnie,_ before tossing his phone back into his bag. He’s back in his position in starting formation before he realizes that he used the diminutive, and his cheeks go red. But when he checks his phone later, the waiting message just says, _Okay, hyung_ , so Myungsoo thinks Hongbin must not have minded.

 

 

_ix._

 

The first time Myungsoo loses his battle with his own need to touch everyone he’s fond of, they’re in a video room in Hongdae. Not one of the old seedy ones where couples go to have sex when they’re too young to go to motels, a clean, high-end one, just a place to spend some time together on a rainy evening when even they don’t want to be outside taking pictures. Myungsoo hasn’t been paying a great deal of attention to the movie, and they’ve been lazily talking on and off, and maybe he’s half-asleep when he leans against Hongbin, but then Hongbin tenses, and he’s wide awake again.

 

“Sorry,” he says, pulling back even though he doesn’t want to. Hongbin is warm and smells nice and Myungsoo is just so used to being able to backhug Sungjong or sniff Woohyun’s shoulder when he wants to that he’d forgotten that Hongbin isn’t one of his members, used to Myungsoo’s clingy ways. 

 

“It’s okay,” Hongbin says, but Myungsoo still feels awkward because he can’t quite ready Hongbin’s voice, and he can only see part of his face in the blue light of the TV screen.

 

Maybe that’s why he finds himself talking, to cover the awkwardness, to dismantle it somehow. “Sungyeol used to yell at me all the time at first when I hugged him or something. He thought it was weird.”

 

“It’s not weird,” Hongbin says, but Myungsoo just picks at a loose thread in his jeans.

 

“I’m kind of weird. I just...I feel better when I’m touching somebody. And the others are used to it, so sometimes I forget that not everybody is, and—” He stops, because it isn’t something he can really explain. It’s just who he is.

 

“It’s okay, hyung,” Hongbin says again, and Myungsoo would think he’s just reassuring him, but then he feels Hongbin scoot a little closer, and relief makes his shoulders sag. “I live with Hakyeon-hyung. And you’re a lot less violent about it than he is.”

 

Myungsoo laughs and lets himself fall back against Hongbin, and this time Hongbin doesn’t tense up at all, and he doesn’t even say anything when Myungsoo sniffs his sweater.

 

 

_x._

 

_Are you okay? You didn’t look very good on the show last night_ , Myungsoo messages Hongbin from the salon. He’d caught the last ten minutes of VIXX’s appearance after he got home from his own schedules.

 

_Was it noticeable, hyung?_

 

Myungsoo understands the question—was I unprofessional? Will the netizens be talking about it this morning? Myungsoo ignores the roar of the noona’s hairdryer and the damp of his fringe and types back, _I don’t think anyone else would notice_. And the warmth he feels at the thought is almost certainly from the hot air the hairdryer is pumping down his neck. 

 

_I just wish they’d care about something besides my abs._

 

_I wish they’d care about something besides my face_ , he writes back.

 

_Sometimes I feel like if they say something about my abs or tell me that I’m handsome one more time I’ll just walk right out and all the way back to my parents’ house._

 

Myungsoo knows that feeling all too well. _Sungjong gets tired of hearing how he’s like a girl. And Sunggyu-hyung gets tired of being made fun of for being a lazy old grandpa. I guess we all hear the same things over and over._ It’s something Dongwoo-hyung reminds Myungsoo of a lot. 

 

_Yeah. I just wish I heard about my singing over and over._

 

Myungsoo can see Hongbin’s dejected face as clearly as a picture in front of him, the curve of his downcast eyelashes, the slight pout to his lips. He doesn’t like it when Hongbin looks like that. _You’re good_ , he writes hurriedly back. _You may not blow people away, but you_ are _good. And you’re getting better all the time. The MCs and stuff just go with the usual talking points. It doesn’t mean you aren’t good._

 

_I know._

 

_One day you’ll get so good that that’ll be the first thing they want to talk about when they interview you._ Maybe from most people those words would just be hollow encouragement, but Myungsoo means them. Hongbin works hard. 

 

_Thanks, hyung_ , Hongbin’s last message says. _I always feel better after I talk to you._

 

When Myungsoo’s hair is done and he surrenders his seat to Sungyeol, Sungyeol smacks the back of his head and demands to know why he’s grinning like that when it’s so fucking early in the stupid fucking morning. 

 

 

 

_xi._

 

Some people are easier to photograph than others. Like Sungjong—he’s so beautiful that every picture comes out like an art shot, and his personality is easily captured as well; the aura of it is so close around him that Myungsoo thinks it would be harder _not_ to capture it. Others’ personalities prove really hard to preserve on film: Dongwoo-hyung always looks striking and Myungsoo can easily get the fierce side of him, the side that comes out when he performs. But the laughing, weird, or withdrawn parts of him always seem to elude his camera—Myungsoo’s shots capture edges of those aspects, but not the wholeness of them.

 

Hongbin is like that, too. He always looks handsome, of course, and Myungsoo takes a lot of pictures that remind him of the ‘artwork’ joke. Sometimes he gets lucky and snags one while Hongbin is laughing, dimples and lit-up eyes. But the other parts of him—the insecure part that ran away from the industry and had to be dragged back by Hakyeon, the frustrated part that hates being known only for his looks, the yearning part that wants to prove himself as a singer and as more than just his abs—those parts are such a challenge to communicate in a picture, and when Myungsoo tries he almost never gets it right.

 

He keeps on trying.

 

 

_xii._

 

Hongbin bows respectfully to his sunbaes, greeting them carefully, but Myungsoo is impatient and barely lets him get the words out before he wraps his arms around Hongbin’s and drags him over to the corner of the dressing room, away from the others. He catches a glimpse of Sungjong rolling his eyes, but his lips are quirked fondly, and Myungsoo doesn’t care if he’s acting too hyper—he hasn’t seen Hongbin in nearly a month, and they only have a few minutes before Hongbin has to go back to his own dressing room. 

 

“You said you didn’t know what to get your mom for her birthday,” Myungsoo says, letting go of Hongbin’s arm only long enough to reach into his bag and pull out a folder. “Give her this. It’s the best one I’ve taken.”

 

Hongbin flushes when he pulls the 16 x 20 out of the folder. “Isn’t it a little vain to give her a picture of me?”

 

Myungsoo shakes his head, emphatic. “Moms love portraits—Sungjong’s mom has one I took of him framed on her wall. You can give her something else, too, like fancy chocolate or something. You really don’t think she’d like it?”

 

Hongbin raises his head and meets Myungsoo’s eyes finally. “It’s a really good picture, hyung. You make me look better than I do in real life.”

 

Myungsoo rolls his eyes. “No, I don’t. This isn’t nearly as handsome as you.”

 

Myungsoo isn’t sure whether Hongbin’s cheeks darken further, but he ducks his head and slips the picture back into the folder. “Thanks, hyung. I’m sure she’ll like it.”

 

Myungsoo grins at him, and Hongbin must be even more tired than usual, because his returned smile is a bit dazed. “Our goodbye stage is next week. After that, I’ll have more free time.”

 

Hongbin’s smile widens, his dimple popping out, and no wonder he’s the visual. “Text me when you want to meet at the park.”

 

“Okay.” And then Myungsoo is so overcome with happiness that he actually got to see Hongbin that he throws his arms around him in a hug so fierce it causes Hongbin to stumble a step back. But he hugs him back and waves quickly when he hurries out the door. Myungsoo bounces over to where Sungjong’s getting his makeup touched up.

 

“Hyung, you are so obvious,” Sungjong says.

 

“What does that mean?” Myungsoo asks, confused. 

 

“Nothing, hyung,” Sungjong says, and Myungsoo doesn’t think of those words again, not even a week later when he gets a message from Hongbin that reads, _She loved it, hyung. And she said thank you_.

 

 

_xiii._

 

Sungyeol is the only one who’s allowed to pick up Myungsoo’s camera without permission, the only one allowed to flip through the pictures whenever he wants. It’s been that way since Myungsoo bought his first real camera with his first Infinite earnings, so he doesn’t know why he feels his stomach swoop in sick dip when he walks into his room one day and finds Sungyeol sprawled out on his bed, flipping through the pictures on the viewscreen. 

 

“You have almost as many pictures of Hongbin now as you do of Sungjong,” Sungyeol observes without even looking up at the sound of Myungsoo entering the room. “Don’t let Jjongie know, he’ll be jealous.”

 

Myungsoo can’t really name what the feeling is that makes him grab the camera—carefully, of course—out of Sungyeol’s hands and scowl down at him. “You’re a dumbass,” he says, because that’s always what he says to Sungyeol when he doesn’t know what else to say. 

 

Sungyeol, unperturbed, rolls over on his back and stretches his long body out on the bed. He’s so thin, a lot thinner than Hongbin. Which is a weird comparison, and Myungsoo doesn’t know why he makes it. “I’m just saying, Sungjong will go full-on wicked stepmother if he thinks anybody thinks somebody else is better-looking than him. ‘ _I_ am the fairest of them all!’” Sungyeol crows in the stupidest sounding voice Myungsoo has ever heard. Myungsoo rolls his eyes.

 

“I didn’t say Hongbin was better-looking than him.”

 

“Your camera does,” Sungyeol says with a shrug, pulling himself off the bed in that marionette-looking way only the very tall can pull off. Myungsoo doesn’t have time to consider those words, because Sungyeol follows them up immediately with, “Want to play video games?” And of course Myungsoo does. But he makes a mental note to himself not to let Sungjong look at the pictures he’s taken lately. And to distract Sungyeol from doing it anymore, too, though he isn’t sure why.

 

 

_xiv._

 

One day when they’re at the park again, Myungsoo gives into his urge and goes over to where Hongbin is focusing his camera on a bench full of grandmas and slips his arms around Hongbin’s back in a hug. Hongbin tenses up, like he still sometimes does when Myungsoo touches him suddenly, but then he relaxes and takes the pictures while Myungsoo inhales his scent and luxuriates in the warmth of him.

 

“I like this one, hyung,” Hongbin says, and maybe his voice quavers a little as he holds up the viewscreen for Myungsoo to see, but Myungsoo doesn’t notice. He hooks his chin over Hongbin’s shoulder and studies the shot.

 

“I like it, too,” he says. “It’s really good. You should put that one in your first photobook.”

 

He knows Hongbin is rolling his eyes at him, but Myungsoo just laughs and gives him an extra squeeze before letting him go. He’d walk through the whole park latched onto Hongbin’s back the way he sometimes does with Sungyeol or Sungjong, but he thinks even the old people would pay attention to that, so he just walks close enough to Hongbin that their arms bump and he stops himself from taking Hongbin’s hand, even though he really wants to.

 

 

_xv._

 

“I didn’t tell you that day we met,” Hongbin says, “but I like your writing in your photobooks, too, hyung.”

 

They’re at the park, their most regular meeting place now, lying on their backs on a grassy bank next to the duck pond, and Hongbin has let Myungsoo hook his ankle around Hongbin’s. The leaves are enough of a filter to keep the sun from hurting their eyes, and Myungsoo can catch kaleidoscope glimpses of blue sky between them. He feels like this is the only place in the world.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You said you wanted it to feel like your readers were going through your life with you. And it sort of did. Like looking at the world through your eyes.”

 

Myungsoo closes his eyes. That’s exactly what he’d wanted to accomplish. To let people see how he sees, to let them see that he’s just a person, too, that he’s a person—and maybe even an artist, even if he isn’t sure he can claim that label yet— _before_ he’s an idol. 

 

“What does it look like?” he asks, voice lazy in the warmth of the day. “Through my eyes?”

 

He feels Hongbin’s foot shift against his. “I’m not good at words, hyung. Not at describing things. That’s why I like taking pictures.”

 

“Yeah,” Myungsoo says, because he gets that. He’s not good at spoken words, either, though he feels much more confident when he’s writing. Still, he’d like to know what Hongbin sees from his point of view. He reaches out and picks up his camera, holding it to his eye and taking a picture of the light through the leaves above him. 

 

“It’s really beautiful, though, hyung,” Hongbin says quietly. “I like looking through your eyes.”

 

Myungsoo grins and finds he has the energy to sit up and hover over Hongbin, taking a picture of his resting face. Hongbin’s eyes pop open and his cheeks flush, and Myungsoo sets his camera down and laughs at him.

 

“I like looking through your eyes, too,” he says. “Let me see what you’ve taken today.”

 

Blush fading, Hongbin hands over his camera and Myungsoo pulls up the pictures on the viewscreen, flipping through them one by one. They’re good, and Hongbin’s improved a lot in the time they’ve been taking pictures together. His landscapes and nature scenes are more dynamic, now, but he’s still best at faces, and the ones he took of Myungsoo are really good. Maybe not as professional as the ones the real photographers take in his photoshoots, but more relaxed. Happier. Intimate, maybe. Myungsoo likes how he looks without the too-bright lights of a studio, no makeup on, face relaxed and natural, through Hongbin’s lens. 

 

That night, as he’s lying in bed and flipping through the pictures he’d taken that day, he pauses on the one he’d taken over Hongbin’s resting face from above, and his stomach and chest tighten. He’s always known Hongbin is handsome, and he’s pretty sure he does as much staring at him as he does at Sungjong. And he likes taking pictures of Hongbin, too, because of the challenge of trying to capture _him_. But the way Hongbin’s serene, sunlit face in this picture makes him feel...he doesn’t feel that when he looks at any other pictures. He swallows hard.

 

 

_xvi._

 

He’s kind of glad that he and Hongbin are both so busy that it’ll be a while before they can see each other. That gives him more time to figure out what to do. Or at least that’s what he thinks until he realizes that no matter how hard he thinks about it, he isn’t arriving at any solutions. He isn’t freaking out, not like he thinks most guys would at realizing they like another guy. He knows what people think about guys who like other guys, but he thinks that’s stupid. You can’t choose who you like, and how does him liking Hongbin hurt anyone? How can liking someone be wrong?

 

It doesn’t feel wrong to Myungsoo, but he _is_ concerned about what to do about it. Hongbin knows him too well now not to notice if Myungsoo starts acting differently—and Sungyeol has always said that Myungsoo is a bad actor. But he also doesn’t know if he can just tell him. He doesn’t _think_ Hongbin would be disgusted or anything, but maybe he would be uncomfortable. Woohyun doesn’t seem uncomfortable with Kibum, not ever, but maybe that’s because Kibum doesn’t like Woohyun like that. If Kibum confessed to Woohyun, would they be able to stay best friends? Myungsoo doesn’t know.

 

But he does know that he values honesty. Not to the extent that Sungyeol does, where he has to tell everything he thinks all the time, but he knows it’s important, and he knows that not being honest would hurt him and Hongbin. And Hongbin has become way too important to him to risk hurting what they have.

 

Sungyeol is really not the person to talk to about relationship issues—he probably has the least actual experience of anyone in the group, but he is Myungsoo’s best friend, and Myungsoo knows that at least Sungyeol won’t freak out on him, since Sungyeol doesn’t care about things like that unless they directly affect him. So he goes into Sungyeol’s room one night before bed, closing the door behind him and marching over to stand looking down at where Sungyeol’s lazing around on his bed with his freaky cat.

 

“I like Hongbin,” Myungsoo says, because Sungyeol doesn’t have any patience for beating around the bush. Better to just say it flat-out.

 

It kind of feels nice to say.

 

He hasn’t really thought about how Sungyeol would react except to know that he wouldn’t, like, not want to be friends with him anymore. But he really hadn’t expected Sungyeol to give him a look like he’s an idiot.

 

“You mean you _just now_ figured that out?”

 

Oh. Well. Myungsoo sits down heavily on the bed and starts stroking Jureumi when she climbs into his lap.

 

“Should I tell him?”

 

Sungyeol flops over onto his back and stretches. “What’re your other options?”

 

“Not tell him. Just act like nothing’s changed.”

 

Sungyeol snorts. “You’re not that—”

 

“—good of an actor. Yeah, I know.” He lapses into silence. “But what if I tell him and he doesn’t want to be friends anymore?”

 

Sungyeol shrugs. “Then maybe he wasn’t that good of a friend to begin with?”

 

Myungsoo leans his back against Sungyeol’s legs. “What if I confessed to you? What would you do?”

 

“I’d tell you that unless your dick disappeared and you grew a pair of tits, you have no chance, so get over it.”

 

Yeah, that sounds about right. “Hongbin’s not like you, though.”

 

“No,” Sungyeol agrees. They’re quiet for a while, and Myungsoo revels in the feeling of Sungyeol’s warmth behind him and Jureumi purring in his lap.

 

“He could like you back,” Sungyeol says after a while, and Myungsoo’s head whips around to look at him.

 

“You think?”

 

Sungyeol laughs, pointing at Myungsoo’s face. “You should see how wide your eyes are!”

 

Myungsoo elbows Sungyeol hard in the hip. “Shut up, dumbass. Do you think he likes me?”

 

“He could,” Sungyeol answers lazily. “I mean, I knew you liked him because you text him 24/7 and spend all your free time with him and you always have this soppy happy look on your face after you’ve been with him. Well, he does at least two of those three things, too. So get Woohyun to ask Hakyeon if Hongbin has a soppy happy look on his face when he’s been with you, and then you’ll know.”

 

It’s a tempting thought—to find out beforehand if he might have a chance—but he doesn’t really want to bring Woohyun and Hakyeon into it, especially because there’s no chance that _both_ of them will keep their mouths shut. It’s one thing to talk to his best friend about this, but he doesn’t think Hongbin would like it if anyone else finds out before he does. 

 

Myungsoo falls to his side onto the bed and buries his face into Sungyeol’s pillow. Sungyeol’s bony finger prods him in the back. “Is it like having a crush on yourself? Like if your clone showed up and you wanted to bang him? Is that what it’s like?”

 

Myungsoo raises his head enough to give Sungyeol a baleful look. “You’re an idiot. He’s not my clone.”

 

“He might as well be. He’s awkward like you and is the visual like you and has stupidly cute dimples like you and is obsessed with photography like you. He plays guitar like you and wants to act like you. And he obsesses like you—his whole thing for Park Hyoshin makes me glad that you don’t have a fanboy crush on some idol, too, and can’t embarrass me more than you do.”

 

“That doesn’t mean we’re the same person. We just have a lot in common. That’s a good thing.”

 

“At least he doesn’t look like you. Wouldn’t making out with someone who looks just like you be like making out with a mirror?”

 

“You’re an idiot.”

 

And yet, somehow, talking to Sungyeol makes Myungsoo feel better. 

 

 

_xvii._

 

Myungsoo has definitely decided that he needs to tell Hongbin how he feels. He just hasn’t decided _when_. He figures he’ll wait till the moment feels right, but he isn’t sure when that will be. He just hopes Hongbin doesn’t notice him acting weird until that moment arrives.

 

He doesn’t think there’s anything different about his smile when he meets Hongbin in the park, and though Hongbin’s returning grin makes his stomach do a somersault, it still looks the same. 

 

“I got a new lens, hyung, look!” Hongbin says by way of greeting, and the tension Myungsoo had felt melts out of his muscles, because even though he knows he likes Hongbin now and he wants to throw his arms around him, everything else still feels the same.

 

The afternoon feels like all the other ones they’ve spent here, too, at least until they hear voices on the other side of a high hedge.

 

“I’m telling you, my halmoni told me that she sees a boy who looks just like Myungsoo-oppa come here all the time. And I checked his schedule; I know he’s free today. He should be here, we just have to keep looking.”

 

Myungsoo’s eyes snap to Hongbin’s in alarm, and he grabs Hongbin’s arm. “The walking trails?”

 

“If we can get there before they see us.”

 

They walk as quickly but quietly as they can, and they’re almost within sight of the nearest start of a walking trail when Myungsoo hears a yelp far behind him. “There, over there! See, two guys? They’re both tall—one of those could be Myungsoo-oppa!”

 

Myungsoo’s pretty sure he hears the other girl say something about the guy not wearing black, but he isn’t really sure, because Hongbin, who he’s still clutching by the arm, pulls his arm free to grab Myungsoo’s hand in his and then drags them into a run and into the bamboo-lined start of the walking trail. 

 

“I hate running,” Myungsoo complains even as he allows Hongbin to drag him along. But maybe running isn’t so bad when Hongbin’s holding his hand, even if it’s just to make sure Myungsoo keeps up with him.

 

“We have to lose them. If they figure out you really are here, we’ll never be able to come to this park again.”

 

They pound their way down the trail, and Myungsoo can hear voices behind them, and maybe even footsteps. He’s starting to sweat, of course, because he sweats all the time, and he’s in good shape, but his camera bag keeps thumping against his hip far harder than he’d like. What if his camera is damaged? 

 

The end of the walkway looms ahead and then they’re shooting out of the green tunnel and into an open space right in front of the gate to the park. Myungsoo’s legs are not happy, but Hongbin doesn’t stop running, dragging Myungsoo out through the gate and across the street—thankfully it’s a slow-traffic street, because Myungsoo isn’t sure Hongbin would have paused at all if there _had_ been a car coming—and down the sidewalk, and then Hongbin jerks him to the left and down a narrow alleyway, and presses him up against the wall.

 

“Hongbin—”

 

“Ssh!” Hongbin hisses, and a minute later, they hear familiar voices.

 

“I really don’t think that was Myungsoo-oppa. He was wearing green and you know he doesn’t like to run.”

 

“But Halmoni said—”

 

“Chaerim, your halmoni is like a zillion years old. I bet she just thought some guy was the guy from your phone’s wallpaper but really it’s some thirty-year-old dentist who doesn’t look a thing like him.”

 

A sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I thought we were going to be the most famous of all the fangirls. Come on. Let’s go home.” 

 

The voices and footsteps fade away, and it’s then that Myungsoo becomes aware that Hongbin’s chest is pressed against his, his heart drumming against Myungsoo’s and his ribcage expanding and contracting in rhythm with Myungsoo’s, and Myungsoo turns his head slowly to look at him, and Hongbin’s face is _right there_ and he’s breathing hard and his hair is messy sweaty on his forehead and his lips are parted.

 

Myungsoo doesn’t think about it, just kisses Hongbin like it’s the only natural thing to do, and it isn’t until he feels Hongbin turn to stone against him that Myungsoo realizes what he’s doing. Cursing himself—he should have _told_ him, not just kissed him out of nowhere! What if he really is disgusted?—Myungsoo freezes as well. He’s about to pull back when all the tension seems to melt out of Hongbin and then Hongbin’s hand is fisting in his shirt and Hongbin’s kissing him back and Myungsoo is pretty sure he feels his eyes burning as he wraps his hand around the back of Hongbin’s neck and pulls him closer.

 

They’re both trembling and clinging to each other when their lips finally part, and Myungsoo is really glad the brick of the wall is against his back, holding him up, especially when Hongbin says, raspy and low, “Hyung, I really like you.”

 

“I really like you, too,” Myungsoo manages to get out before he has to kiss him again, and he has the dizzy thought that maybe Hongbin always has a soppy, happy look on his face after they see each other, too.

 

 

 

_xviii._

“Part 3 of _Bravo Viewtiful_ could be the Hongbin edition,” Myungsoo says, putting his camera down and flopping down on top of Hongbin. They’ve found a little corner of the park that’s surrounded on three sides with thick hedges and whose entrance is almost hidden by a huge tree, and Myungsoo’s grateful for it because it means he can lay on top of Hongbin like this and kiss him whenever he wants. It’s going to suck when it gets too cold to really spend time here.

 

Hongbin snorts. “Yeah, I’m sure your company would really go for that. And it’d be a huge bestseller.”

 

“It would!” Myungsoo insists, pressing kisses against Hongbin’s bare collarbones where they show above the v-neck of his t-shirt.

 

“Yeah, three hundred pictures of _me_ , people are really going to buy that.”

 

“Who _wouldn’t_ buy that?” Myungsoo demands, nipping at Hongbin’s neck.

 

“Gee, let’s see, everyone who isn’t my you, my mom, and Hakyeon-hyung?”

 

Myungsoo raises his head to consider, pursing his lips. “No, you’re wrong. All my members would definitely buy it so they could make fun of me.”

 

“Yeah, nine whole copies, that really counts.”

 

“You forgot the million copies that I would buy.”

 

“Hyung, you are the world’s biggest loser. That is actually creepy,” Hongbin says, but both of his hands have slipped under the fabric of Myungsoo’s t-shirt and are sliding up his bare back, so Myungsoo doesn’t think he really means it.

 

“You can put out a companion book. _Hongbin’s Bravo Viewtiful_. Just pictures of me!”

 

“Okay, that one probably really would be a best-seller.”

 

“Yeah, because your pictures are so good.”

 

“You’re such a dork, hyu—”

 

It’s easy enough to cut him off with a kiss. Though that kiss doesn’t last nearly as long as Myungsoo would like, because Hongbin pulls back when he hears the click.

 

“Hyung, did you just take a picture of us?” he demands, incredulity thick in his voice.

 

“I bet it’s hot. Want to see it?”

 

“Hyung, you know you can’t—”

 

“I know,” Myungsoo says. “I’ll erase it in a second. But look.”

 

Myungsoo likes the way he and Hongbin look together through his lens. They look young and beautiful, but not in a manufactured idol way, all slick smiles and bb cream. They look rumpled and normal in the warmth of the afternoon sunlight, sharp lines of jaws and dents of dimples as they kiss deeply.

 

He’s still admiring the picture when Hongbin grabs the neck of his t-shirt and pulls him back down for another kiss. This time it’s Myungsoo who pulls away at the click. Hongbin gives him a saucy look and holds up the camera for inspection.

 

“Look at this one, hyung.”

 

Myungsoo likes how they look through Hongbin’s lens, too.


End file.
